Escargots à la Bourguignonne

The classic French dish title, Escargots à la Bourguignonne, means snails with rich, fragrant garlic parsley butter, in this case, baked in a casserole dish. Yep, no need to stuff them in shells! This way is much, much easier and just as delicious!

This recipe is adapted from one by the late great Anthony Bourdain, from his book, Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking, where he shares recipes from his French bistro in New York. 

In the introduction to the escargot recipe, he declared that in all of his (at the time) 28 years working in US restaurants, he had never seen a single restaurant serving fresh snails. To his knowledge even the best ones use canned escargots. 

Well, if they are good enough for Anthony Bourdain, they are certainly good enough for me. If you don’t have this cookbook, allow me to entice you to get a copy. The recipe for the mushroom soup alone is worth the price (so creamy and rich, with zero actual cream - and do NOT skip adding the little bit of sherry at the end - so good!) but my favorite part is all the snarky asides and personal commentary that accompany the recipes. Anthony Bourdain at his absolute finest. 

I was fortunate enough to get my copy as a gift from my daughters one Christmas so it’s a treasured book in more than one way. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of 1. Anthony Bourdain and/or 2. French cooking. I wanted to add an Amazon affiliate link but it looks like the book is out of print. The only available copies are so expensive, which is disappointing. See if you can borrow one from your library. 

Escargots à la Bourguignonne

This recipe will serve four for a generous appetizer or two little pigs for an absolutely super rich lunch. In a nod to adding something healthy if eating this as a whole meal, a fresh tomato salad with a simple vinaigrette goes nicely. Two cans of snails yields about 220g once they are drained and rinsed.

Ingredients

2  (7.5 oz or 200g) cans snails in brine, drained and rinsed

1 shallot or half a purple onion, minced

½ cup or 120ml dry white wine

1 head garlic, peeled and separated

1 ounce or 28g flat parsley leaves

1/2 cup or 113g butter

Salt and pepper

To serve:

1/2 long baguette, sliced in rounds

 

Method

In a small pot, combine the snails, shallot (or onion) and white wine and bring to a simmer. 

Cook for 15 minutes. Drain and set the snails aside. Anthony adds this comment, which made me laugh: “I know, I know—they’re ugly. But they’re good. Hang in there.”

In the food processor, combine the garlic and parsley and pulse until finely chopped. 

Add the butter and process until the mixture is a smooth, green paste. 

Season with a little salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Choose a baking dish where the snails will cover most of the bottom. Spoon the snails into it. Dollop the garlic parsley butter over the snails. 

Bake for about 15 minutes in your preheated oven or until the butter is melted and there is the slightest color on the snails. 

Remove from the oven and serve immediately with the sliced baguette. 

Enjoy! 

It's the first Wednesday of the month so my Foodie Extravaganza Foodie friends are sharing recipes again. This month our theme or main ingredient is garlic! Many thanks to our host, Radha of Magical Recipes. 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Garlic Ginger Chicken Nuggets
• Sneha’s Recipe: Garlic-Keto Paneer Steaks In Cafreal Masala
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Garlic and Chive Flower Buns
• Palatable Pastime: Roasted Garlic Sautéed Squash
• Food Lust People Love: Escargots à la Bourguignonne
• Magical Ingredients: Garlicky Pink Peppercorn Paneer

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Pilpelchuma - Libyan Chili Paste

Spicy, garlicky pilpelchuma may be my new favorite condiment. From the Libyan Jewish tradition, it’s made with dried peppers, Aleppo pepper flakes and plenty of fresh garlic. 

Despite living right next door to Libya in Egypt, I must confess that I knew very little about its cuisine so when our Sunday FunDay host chose Libyan food as our theme this week, I had to resort to googling. 

I discovered that there is a lot of overlap in dishes from both countries, for example, hummus, shakshouka and couscous. Like Egyptians, Libyans are also fond of lamb, mutton and harissa. 

Discovering that pasta dishes were popular during my search also took me down the rabbit hole of Libyan history where I found out that Libya was an Italian colony for almost three decades starting in 1911, until the British took control during World War II. During that war the country was the center of various battles and control shifted between the allies and the axis forces several times, making it a very dangerous place for the local Jewish population. 

Jewish Libyans were persecuted, forced into labor, sent to concentration camps and killed outright. Those who could afford to emigrated. According to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, the Jewish population fell from 25 percent to now zero in current day Libya. 

Pilpelchuma, also called filfel chuma or maseer, is a recipe from the Jewish Libyan diaspora, those who survived the war and managed to make a life elsewhere, so I decided to make this spicy paste for my post. 

Pilpelchuma  - Libyan Chili Paste

This recipe is adapted from one on Lin’s Food but a simple search turns up myriad renditions. They all seem to have dried peppers, garlic and caraway though. You'll need a small processor and a way to grind the spices into a powder but this delicious paste is really easy to make.

Ingredients - makes 1 cup or 240ml 

15 dried red chili peppers, any sort 

1 1/2 teaspoons whole caraway seeds

1 1/2  teaspoons whole cumin seeds

15 medium-sized garlic cloves

1/3 cup or 80ml olive oil plus extra for covering before storage

1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper flakes or sub regular paprika (not smoked)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2  teaspoon white sugar

Method

Cut the dried chili peppers into 2-3 pieces and put them into a small heat resistant bowl. Cover them with boiling water then cover the bowl with a saucer and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes. I got distracted by another project and mine soaked for a couple of hours. 

Toast the cumin and caraway seeds in a dry pan over a low flame. Shake the pan occasionally so they don’t burn and remove them from the stove as soon as they look a little darker and smell fragrant. 

Leave the seeds to cool for a few minutes then grind them to a fine powder in a clean coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle. 

Use tongs to remove the soaked chili peppers from the water, leaving any seeds that fall out behind. Put them in your food processor. Peel and trim the hard ends off the cloves of garlic. 

Put the garlic in the food processor with the chili peppers and half of the olive oil. 

Process for one minute, scraping down the bowl of the processor occasionally. 

Now add in the rest of the oil, the pepper flakes (or paprika), the ground spices, lemon juice, salt and sugar.

Process till smooth. 

Store in a sterilized jar, topped with a little more olive oil, in the refrigerator. Replace the oil each time you use a little of the pipelchuma so it stays fresh. This will last a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

Ideas to use pipelchuma: 

1. Toss with roast potatoes
2. Add a dollop to hummus, scrambled eggs or pasta
3. Thin with a little more oil and lemon juice for a spicy salad dressing
4. Stir through yogurt or sour cream to make dip or a topping for cooked fish
5. Marinate chicken, beef or lamb before grilling
6.  Stir through cooked greens, like collards, spinach or Brussels sprouts

Enjoy! 

One of the reasons I like to take part in group posts with a theme is the opportunity they often present to learn something new so many thanks to our host, Amy of Amy’s Cooking Adventures! Check out all of the Libyan recipes below. I'm looking forward to trying a few!

• Bureek Tajin from A Day in the LIfe on the Farm
• Ejja - Libyan Frittata from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Libyan Harissa Paste from Cook with Renu
• Libyan Lamb Stew with White Beans and Spinach from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Macroona Imbakbaka (Libyan Minestrone) from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Maghreb Chicken and Vegetable Stew from Palatable Pastime
• Mbakbaka (Spicy Libyan Pasta) from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Pilpelchuma - Libyan Chili Paste from Food Lust People Love
• Sharba Libiya - Libyan Mint and Lamb Soup from Pandemonium Noshery
• Tajin Sfinari bil Zaytun/ Libyan Lamb Casserole with Carrots and Green Olives from Sneha’s Recipe

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Family Secret Garlic Bread

Garlic and butter and our secret ingredient, mayonnaise, makes this family secret garlic bread the best we’ve ever tasted.  

Many years ago when we were living in Brazil, our house and garden were often used for company parties because we had room enough to invite all of my husband’s colleagues along with their spouses and children. 

Caterers were hired to set up tables with tablecloths and provide glasses, plates and cutlery. Depending on the occasion, they often also brought the side dishes, using my kitchen for last minute food prep. The main course was always the ubiquitous Brazilian churrasco, that is, meat grilled over a coal or wood fire. 

One of the typical accompaniments was garlic bread, made in the traditional Brazilian way with garlic, butter and mayonnaise. We all liked it so much that we adopted that recipe and always and forever after have made our garlic bread the Brazilian way. 

I call this family secret garlic bread because when we would visit my sister in Houston, grilled steaks were often on the menu. I would offer to make salad and garlic bread. My sister detested anything creamy, including mayonnaise so we just never told her how the garlic spread was made. Sometimes it wasn’t easy to do it without her seeing the mayo going in but my daughters ran interference when needed and we managed to keep the secret from her.  

By the way, she loved my garlic bread! 

Family Secret Garlic Bread

This recipe is easily doubled or trebled or even quadrupled to make as much family secret garlic bread as you need to feed the hungry hoards. I like to use a bit more butter than mayonnaise but some Brazilians will use equal amounts of each or even all mayo. Try it my way first but then feel free to play with the ratio. 

Ingredients

1 baguette or long French bread loaf

1/2 cup or 113g butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup or 75g mayonnaise

4 cloves garlic

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Cut the baguette down one side to open it up like a book. Do not slice all the way through. 

Crush and mince the garlic or put it through a garlic press. Mix the butter, mayonnaise and garlic in a small bowl until well combined. 

Slather the mixture on the inside of the baguette, on both sides. 

Close the baguette to enclose the garlic butter, then turn it cut side up and carefully cut it into portions by slicing it not quite all the way through so that the pieces can be easily torn away to serve. Do not cut all the way through the “book spine.” 

Wrap the bread snugly in heavy-duty foil and pop it in the oven. I find it easier to wrap when I cut the baguette in half but you can certainly leave yours whole. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the butter has well melted into the bread. Turn the oven off. Serve immediately or leave the garlic bread in the warm oven until ready to serve if the rest of the meal is almost ready. 

To serve, open the foil and let people wrest off as many pieces as they want. (Yeah, I wasn't so good at judging where to cut it in two evenly.)

Enjoy! 

It's Sunday FunDay and we are celebrating National Garlic Month by sharing garlicky recipes. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm! Check out the recipes below. 

• Blackened Steak Caesar Salad by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Shrimp by Making Miracles
• Family Secret Garlic Bread by Food Lust People Love
• Garlic Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes by Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Garlic Roasted Salmon with Brussels Sprouts by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Garlicky Fregola with Edamame, Mint, and Ricotta by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Indo Chinese Style Schezwan Chutney by Cook with Renu
• Lasanachi Chutney | Maharashtrian style dry Garlic Chutney by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Red Garlic Chutney by Sneha's Recipe
• Tomato, Basil, and Garlic Filled Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Garlicky Artichoke Pasta

Toss a popular tapas dish, alcachofas al ajillo, with linguine to make delicious garlicky artichoke pasta, a quick and easy weeknight meal. 

Alcachofas al Ajillo or garlicky artichokes are a traditional tapas dish from Spain made with fresh, frozen or canned artichokes, lots of garlic and chili pepper. I like to add in some small tomatoes as well, for flavor and color. 

This is normally served with drinks as part of an appetizer course but it is so simple to make and so flavorful that we love to eat it with pasta to sop up the lovely garlicky buttery sauces. 

Garlicky Artichoke Pasta

This recipe serves two as a main dish. It is also easily doubled or trebled to feed more. If you scale up, don’t skimp on the garlic. That’s what makes this dish so good!

Ingredients

1 can (drained weight 5.8 oz or 165g) small artichoke hearts

1/4 cup or 60ml virgin olive oil

1 rounded tablespoon butter

8 large cloves garlic

10 grape or cherry tomatoes

1 small red chili pepper

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper 

Few sprigs fresh parsley, hard stems removed, roughly chopped

7 oz or 200g pasta, cooked to manufacturer’s instructions

Optional to serve: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method

Drain the artichokes well and rest them open side down in a strainer or on some paper towels so they can dry even more. 

Finely mince the cloves of garlic and cut the tomatoes in half.

Split the chili pepper down the middle but leave it in one piece. This is purely aesthetic because I like the look of a whole split chili pepper. Feel free to chop it if you prefer. The seeds can be removed to lessen the spiciness of the dish. Finely chop the parsley. 

Heat half of the olive oil along with the butter in a large non-stick skillet over a medium high flame.  Tip in the well-drained artichoke hearts. Cook for about 6-7 minutes on one side, until they are turning golden in places. Turn them gently so the artichokes can color on both sides. 

Add in the chopped garlic, tomatoes, the chili pepper and the rest of the olive oil. Lower the flame to medium and cook the garlic until softened, making sure to stir often to keep it from burning. 

When the garlic is starting to color slightly and the tomatoes have wrinkled, turn the heat off. Sprinkle the top with salt and a few good grinds of black pepper and stir again. Stir in the chopped parsley. 

Add the hot, cooked pasta to the pan and toss well to mix the garlicky artichokes with the pasta. In the spirit of tapas, serve with a cold beer or your favorite red wine. 

I also like to put out a block of Parmesan and a microplane grater and let everyone add their own cheese. 

Enjoy!

This month my Foodie Extravaganza friends are sharing recipes that start with a can in honor of National Canned Food Month, in some cases many cans! Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Baked Beans Curry from Sneha's Recipe
• Chicken Spaghetti from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Garlicky Artichoke Pasta from Food Lust People Love  
• Homemade “Better Than Canned” One-Pot Chili by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Italian Pot Roast from Making Miracles 
• Pulao from Magical Ingredients
• Scalloped Tuna Bake from Palatable Pastime  
• Spam Musubi by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Ragù Bolognese from  Karen's Kitchen Stories 

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Alcachofas al Ajillo or Garlicky Artichokes #FoodieExtravaganza

Alcachofas al Ajillo or garlicky artichokes are a traditional tapas dish from Spain made with fresh or canned artichokes, lots of garlic and chili pepper. I like to toss in some small tomatoes as well, for flavor and color.

This is normally served with drinks as part of an appetizer course but it is so simple to make that you might finding yourself eating it as a quick weekday supper with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the lovely garlicky buttery sauce.

Alcachofas Al Ajillo or Garlicky Artichokes

This recipe serves 4 as part of a tapas course, 2 as an side dish. It is also easily doubled or trebled.

Ingredients
1 can or jar (drained weight 5.8 oz or 165g) small artichoke hearts
1/4 cup or 60ml extra virgin olive oil
1 rounded tablespoon butter
8 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
10 grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1 small red chili pepper
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Few sprigs fresh parsley, hard stems removed, roughly chopped

To serve: slices of crusty bread

Method
Drain the artichokes well and rest them open side down in a strainer or on some paper towels so they can dry even more.

Split the chili pepper down the middle but leave it in one piece. This is purely aesthetic because I like the look of a whole split chili pepper. Feel free to chop it if you prefer. The seeds can be removed to lessen the spiciness of the dish.

Heat half of the olive oil along with the butter in a large non-stick skillet over a medium high flame.  Tip in the well-drained artichoke hearts. Cook for about 6-7 minutes on one side, until they are turning golden in places. Turn them gently so the artichokes can color on both sides.

Add in the chopped garlic, tomatoes, the chili pepper and the rest of the olive oil.

Lower the flame to medium and cook the garlic until softened, making sure to stir often to keep it from burning.

When the garlic is starting to color slightly and the tomatoes have wrinkled, turn the heat off. Sprinkle the top with salt, a few good grinds of black pepper and the chopped parsley. Stir again.

Serve with sliced crusty bread, and perhaps a cold beer, your favorite wine or a small glass of Spanish sherry.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of garlic? Make sure to check out all of the wonderful garlicky recipes my Foodie Extravaganza group has for you today, in celebration of National Garlic Day on April 19th. Many thanks to our host, Caroline of Caroline’s Cooking.

• Aïgo Bouido (Provençal Garlic Soup) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Alcachofas al Ajillo or Garlicky Artichokes by Food Lust People Love
• Cuban Cube Steak - Bistec de Palomilla by Caroline's Cooking
• Fresh Green Garlic Mince Bake by Sneha's Recipe
• Garlic Fried Calamari by Palatable Pastime
• Garlic Knots by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Garlic Loaded Tzatziki Sauce by Hardly A Goddess
• Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Homemade Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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